Disclaimer: I do not own the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants books

Starving for Perfection: Carmen's Story

Flashing red and blue lights danced in blurry motion over Carmen's eyes. The loud noise seemed off in the distance, and the chaos calmed her. She drifted in and out, only seeing glimpses of someone's face over her. Who was this strange man? And why was he buckling her onto a bed? Suddenly there was movement, and she felt herself and the bed being hoisted into something. Soon after, it all went dark again, and she closed her eyes softly; the peaceful mind among the midst of things.

…..

Sunlight streamed in through Carmen's hospital room window. She opened her eyes, and looked confusedly around the room. She smelled the familiar hospital smell, and heard strange beeps coming from the machine by her.

"Good afternoon, Carmen! Glad to see you awake. You had quite a spill. But I'm going to let you talk to your mom for a little bit, and I'll be back to talk to you soon enough. I hope you like Jell-O, it's on the menu today. Delicious."

Carmen then noticed her mom sitting in the chair next to her bed. Her mother got up and walked over to the edge of Carmen's bed, and put her hand on Carmen's.

"Hey, baby." A tear fell down her mother's cheek. "I wish you would've told me. You can always come to me. What happened to us?"

Carmen's heart welled up with emotion and she gripped her mom's hand. But no words would come out. She was too full of misery to talk.

"I'm going to wait outside your door while they do some checks on you. I'll be back later. Call for me if you need anything."

Her mom slipped out the door leaving Carmen fragile in her bed, alone like always.

…..

A month later, Dr. Richards came into her room with his hateful clipboard.

"Carmen, you have to start gaining weight back. You know I always let you leave the hospital, but this time your mother thinks you should stay, and I do to. You've dropped to 83 pounds."

Telling Carmen the number would only spur her on. Yet, hearing that she would be going into recovery was somewhat of a relief. She had lost touch with her friends, and even herself. Since she was 18, she would have to sign the release form agreeing that she would stay at the hospital until she had gained weight. She signed it, though the voice in her head was screaming at her, telling her it would be over if she did this. And for once in her life, she put the voice in the back of her head. It had been torturing her long enough.

All she wanted was a fresh start, and outlook on her life. She wanted to be part of the foursome she had left so long ago. She wanted to be able to pick her baby brother up without falling over. She knew that if she ever wanted to love something again, she would have to learn to love herself.

…..

Carmen dropped the last of the photographs into her suitcase. She was finally leaving the hospital. She had gained 20 pounds and looked gorgeous. Her 3 best friends had bags in their arms, all ready to go. She looked sadly at her room, and flicked off the light.

"You ready, Carmen?" Tibby asked, her hand on the door knob.

Was she ready? She had a future that she had no way of knowing what was to come. She didn't know if she would fall back into old habits. But if she wasn't willing to try, then she might as well unpack her bags and get back into that bed.

She sighed softly, and looked again at the dark room. "I'm ready," she whispered. And at that moment, she knew she was.

A/N: So I lied. I didn't have a new chapter in a week. Oh well. I know this is short, and it ended faster than I thought, but I'm moving, and I just have a lot of stuff going on. I hope you guys enjoyed it. Maybe I'll write another story again some time. Thank you to all of the fans of this story! (Though not many…haha)